I am new here but I frequently look at the Accounting Web for answers and different opinions. We have a client who furloughed their employee and the said employee now took another job in tesco. It seems that the job is at the same / similar hours as the furloughed job would be.
Our client is not happy with it, I tried to explain that the employees are allowed to have another job at this situation, but it seems that I might have been wrong..?
My manager is of that opinion that working the same hours as the original job is not allowed, (allowed to work different hours though) according to the recent webinar hold by the well known tax authority, however when I searched the internet I couldnt find anything which would confirm this in writing
Can anyone help with a definite answer please
Thank you
Related resources
Replies (18)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
Whether someone can work whilst on furlough has nothing to do with the hours the furloughed employee works. It is whether the employees contract allows it your client would need to check his employees contract.
HMRC website say "Whilst furloughed your employer cannot ask you to do work for another linked or associated company.
If your contract allows, you may undertake other employment while your current employer has placed you on furlough, and this will not affect the grant that they can claim under the scheme. You will need to be able to return to work for the employer that has placed you on furlough if they decide to stop furloughing you, and you must be able to undertake any training they require while on furlough."
It’s ok as per the furlough rules.
Not ok if the contract of employment forbids it. That’s where you need to look.
If there is a contractual stipulation that the employee can’t undertake work elsewhere, then it stands.
An employer may waive that clause. If there is such clause, the employee ought to have sought authorisation which the employer could have denied or granted. If the employee ignore this and took employment anyway, then it would be grounds for gross dismissal.
The reality is that a lot of employees think they're lucky if the employer tells them how many holidays they get.
Contracts are so complicated that the small employer cannot cope.
I'm not saying I approve. Just that this is how it is.
So my initial point stands doesn’t it? The place to start looking is the contract of employment..
If the employee has worked there for under two years, they can’t bring a claim for constructive dismissal anyway.
Surely if the work could have been done in hours outside of the employee's normal working day, then this seems fine - contract allowing, but if the second job overlaps with the hours the employee would normally be working for the employer who has them on furlough, I don't see how this can be allowable.
Does anyone concur ?
I find the guidance on this is not specific enough to confidently advise our clients.
Does anyone concur ?
Not me.
The employee needs to be aware that he may be recalled but, apart from that, he's grand. HMRC have been at pains to make it clear that he can have a second job whilst on furlough.
The employer doesn't want him to work, he's not bearing the cost - what's his problem ?
I understood it to mean exactly the same as you but unfortunately the guidance has been changed and tweaked so many times it's hard to find that guidance now but I know it was definitely mentioned right at the start as I remember discussing it with a client in March.
Yes, I heard this on an HMRC webinar back in March/April, they said an employee couldn't take another job if this would have interfered with the job they're being furloughed from. I've searched HMRC website but can't find this guidance on there.
In one of the press briefings George Eustice was encouraging furloughed workers to sign up to pick fruit. If you look at the guidence for seasonal workers it mentions furloughed workers. Again it is down to the employees contract. If your client doesn't like it and there is nothing in the employees contract to prohibit him having another job I would suggest the clients hands are tied. If he wanted the employee to return to work during the hours they were working in the supermarket and the employee refused then it would be a different matter. As others have said it not an accounting matter all you can do is point to the guidence and not get involved in giving advice.
"If you’re ‘on furlough’ from your job you can apply for seasonal work as long as your job contract says you can do other work. ‘On furlough’ is when your employer has kept you on the payroll even though there is no work because of coronavirus (COVID-19).
You’ll still be entitled to receive 80% of your usual wages from the government.
You should check your job contract to make sure you’re allowed to do other work."
Frankly, any client that only pays 80% of an employees wages (and that being reimbursed by HMRC/us), and not 100%, and tries to stop that employee working elsewhere temporarily, will immediately become an ex-client.
Since your client should have consulted with their employee before furloughing them and issued them with a letter outlining the terms of furlough, that they must not work for them during furlough, how long it would last, how much they would be paid etc. (which they need to keep on record for 5 years) surely they would have made clear to their employee whether or not they could work elsewhere?
If they have work for their employee to do, they should take them off furlough and pay them 100% of their wages to work for them. If they don't then they should continue to furlough them, pay them their 80% and recover that off the government.
In most contracts there may only be a clause restricting working for a competitor as previously 99% of people had never heard the word furlough!
They should be reminded that no matter how annoyed they are they cannot treat their employee unfavourably because of this.
In most contracts there may only be a clause restricting working for a competitor as previously 99% of people had never heard the word furlough!
It's nonsense to suggest that Bilko fans number less than 1% of the population.